Neumann's legal fight for his role at Heathfield High School intensifies

Vindicated former Heathfield High School principal, Wesley Neumann will be approaching the Labour Court on Friday to bring an application which will compel and enforce the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) to return him to his post.

This follows MEC for Education, David Maynier, announcing that the department had filed an application to appeal the Labour Court’s decision to replace the dismissal of Neumann with a written warning. Earlier, political parties questioned the expenditure of the five-year case, which is believed to be in excess of R4 million.

On Tuesday, the Special Action Committee – Education (SAC-E) confirmed that Neumann would be approaching the Labour Court for an enforcement application to compel the WCED to return him to his position.

Neumann was dismissed in 2020 after dedicating himself to keeping the school closed due to safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic and faced misconduct charges including obstruction, disrespect, and breach of social media policy.

The Special Action Committee – Education (SAC-E) said it rejects the WCED’s claim that merely filing an application for leave to appeal automatically suspends the court order, citing that it was misleading and created confusion in the public domain.

Earlier, Maynier said the filing of the application would suspend the order to reinstate Neumann as principal of Heathfield High School.

He added that the Court failed to apply the review test correctly, which requires asking whether the ELRC arbitrator’s decision was one that a reasonable decision-maker could reach.

Maynier said on the facts and law, the ELRC arbitrator’s finding that the dismissal was fair was indeed a reasonable outcome and that the court applied an incorrect legal test when assessing whether Neumann’s statements were racist in nature.

Maynier stated that the Court incorrectly found that the Department did not lead any evidence on the issue of reinstatement not being an appropriate remedy.

“Our priority is, and will remain, the best interests of the learners of Heathfield High School,” he added.

“As we stated in our application to appeal, Mr Neumann demonstrated that he will disobey instructions and mobilise parents and learners to rise up when in his view he was allegedly speaking truth to power. This explained his refusal to apologise even when facing dismissal and provides a very strong indication that he will again adopt the same stance and defy his employers at the expense of schoolchildren if in his view the circumstances require it.

There is thus no evidence that the relationship of trust has been restored, ” Maynier said.

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